How Meta’s Metaverse Bet Went From Awkward to Wow

by · WWD
A look at Orion, the prototype holographic full AR glasses.Courtesy photo

All of a sudden, virtual technology seems less like a fading fad and more like a viable wave of the future — and Meta, keeper of chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse dreams, must be thrilled.

The major takeaway from the Meta Connect developer conference last week was that the company finally succeeded in building full holographic, augmented reality glasses, or at least a prototype. Though early, the implications matter because, as Zuckerberg sees it, this is the technology that will someday replace smartphones.

But that just scratches the surface, especially for the fashion business. Because Meta also unleashed a slew of new reality-bending features and experiences that could change how brands operate and communicate in the near, not far-off, future.

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Holographic AR Glasses

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Seven months after Apple launched its Vision Pro mixed reality headset, the Meta CEO surprised the crowd by showing off the Orion prototype. Forget bulky and heavy headsets, or holding up a smartphone screen. For Meta, stepping into an AR or MR experience will be a matter of putting on a pair of spectacles.

This was always the goal of its EssilorLuxottica partnership. First, they created the Ray-Ban smart glasses, which continue to get smarter with evolving artificial intelligence features and expanded styles and colors, including a new transparent frame. Lessons learned along the way were then applied to the Ray-Ban’s bigger, techier cousin.

And Orion is just that. The prototype is set in a thicker frame with beefier specs, including projection technology that can beam interactive visuals onto the lenses. It also features AI-powered voice control, eye- and hand-tracking — so users can select elements by reaching for or looking at them — as well as a wrist-based neural interface.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, showing off Orion at the Meta Connect keynote.Courtesy photo

Imagine designers collaborating on a new capsule collection using AR or MR, conceptualizing ideas together or tweaking virtual pieces in real time. With gestures, they can easily switch colors, bring up the hemline, add embellishments and do other things, and visually see the work progress — as if the item was physically on the table between them. Extend that to shopping, and it gives a whole new meaning to browsing products.

Meta embarked on the Luxottica partnership four years ago, but the effort to build full-fledged holographic AR glasses goes back further. It started with the 2014 acquisition of virtual reality developer Oculus, which eventually became Meta’s Reality Labs division. So Zuckerberg has been talking about virtual experiences for 10 years, and specifically glasses-based AR for four years.

Now with a tangible prototype — which isn’t Meta’s first, but it’s the first to be showcased publicly — the vision looks more than just feasible. It is actually on the way.

“So with Orion we are getting closer to achieving the dream of Reality Labs, to create the next major computing platform that delivers a deep sense of presence — like you were right there with another person,” Zuckerberg explained.

“This is where we are going.”

The big reveal set off plenty of buzz in tech circles, but analysts seem mixed. While some are skeptical, others are so impressed, they actively wonder why the CEO started off by talking about Meta Quest, Ray-Ban and Meta AI updates instead of Orion.

The answer should be obvious. This is Zuckerberg’s “One more thing” moment, echoing Steve Jobs’ penchant for saving the most exciting Apple debuts for last. Bank of America Securities analyst Justin Post, who put a “buy” rating on Meta stock, told clients that interest will swirl around Orion more than the Quest headset.

Perhaps someday. But for now, the Quest is an actual product circulating in the market, which is why the next item may be more immediately gratifying.

Fashion, Meet Hyperscape

According to Counterpoint Research, Meta already accounts for 74 percent of the global VR and AR market, as of the second quarter of 2024, and with a new budget headset, the Quest 3S, that number could jump even further.

A cheaper device will surely please some consumers, but brands may be more intrigued by the new photorealistic avatars and environments coming to this and other models.

“We call this Hyperscape,” said Zuckerberg, “and the way this works is, you can use your phone to scan a room and then recreate it, or you can step into a room that someone else has scanned and shared.” He then showcased visual artist Daniel Arsham’s studio in New York and an L.A. music studio used by Green Day.

More will be available in the Horizon Hyperscape beta app over time, he added.

Photorealistic version of Daniel Arsham’s studio.

The potential for photo shoots or runway scenes that are never broken down, but virtually memorialized jumps to mind. Brands could also give customers access to behind-the-scenes spaces, as a way to forge a personal connection.

Rise of the Visual Döppelbots

Another fascinating tidbit is a new Meta AI power, specifically AI Studio. The set of tools gives creators a new capability to create AIs that can interact with their communities on social media.

In a demo, creator and author Don Allen Stevenson III showed an AI version of himself that he trained to respond to frequently asked questions, just as he himself would respond to fans. This is essentially a visual bot — perhaps a döppelbot — that looked and spoke like him.

Meant to be helpful, this one can get creepy. But if curated and trained well, it might be a novel way for a renowned designer to offer some face time with fans, clients and others without the time drain.

For users, real-time styling advice will now be possible using the Ray-Ban smartglasses, thanks to multimodal video AI. “Meta AI is now going to be able to give you real-time help as you are doing things, like trying to figure out what outfit you want to wear to a party that you’re going to,” said Zuckerberg.

For example, if a person sifts through various clothes to weigh options, the camera on the smart Ray-Bans can see them too, recommending that dress on the right or remembering something it saw earlier. Meta AI can even give that advice in some familiar voices, including John Cena, Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, Keegan Michael Key or Awkwafina.

The transparent Ray-Ban by Meta smartglasses.

Learn a Second Language — Fast

Another new Threads feature uses AI to power real-time language translation dubbing with automatic lip syncing.

So forget captions or dubbed voiceovers. A video by a Spanish speaker could be viewed in English, or vice versa, as if the spokesperson, model or other personality is actually speaking the other language.

International or multiregion brands, take note.

Meta’s Puma Collab Brings Mixed-reality Shopping

Unlike the others, Meta’s Puma collaboration wasn’t part of the keynote. But it should have been.

During the conference, Meta’s Web Platform Team teased “the future of e-commerce” through a new web-based extended reality shopping scenario. Extended reality, or XR, is a blanket term covering virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR).

The Puma shopping experience works as a virtual overlay of product on the headset’s camera pass-through view. But it’s not a lean-back proposition. Shoppers can swipe to change the item’s color, and “experience how each colorway transforms the environment around them,” according to a representative. Every design will come with a unique atmosphere.

The experience will officially roll out for Quest users this fall. However, it looks like a better fit for Orion. There’s a sense of separation in seeing the world through the headset’s live camera feed, whereas eyeglasses offer a direct view of reality. In other words, there’s nothing to stand between the consumer and the product.

“A lot of the stuff we’ve been talking about for a long time … glasses, mixed reality, AI — it’s happening,” Zuckerberg said at Meta Connect.

“And you know, we can start to see how the future of computing and the future of human connection are going to look and it’s pretty awesome.”

Analysts apparently need more convincing, at least when it comes to Orion.

Martin Yang, of Oppenheimer, told clients in a note that Orion is no Apple Vision Pro killer, citing cost. There’s no ship date or retail price announced yet — again, because it’s a prototype — but it will likely top the rival device’s $3,500. Some estimates say Orion costs $10,000 or more to build.

Yang still called it “impressive,” given that “most other AR glasses on the market, despite heavier designs, have much narrower FOVs [fields of view] of 40-50 degrees,” he said.

Post, of Bank of America, believes Orion is “several years (and tens of billions) away from general release.”

In the meantime, Meta is giving creators and brands plenty of other tools to play with.